Ohio State's in pursuit of another Texas running back

The Buckeyes' recruiting efforts are continuously paying off for this current 2018 recruiting cycle. Last night, they kept one of their best in-state prospects at home when Cleveland native Tyreke Smith told the world he was headed to Columbus to play for the Buckeyes during the Under Armour All-American game.

The class sits ranked as the second-best nationally—according to 247sports, Ohio State still behind Georgia—but with as little as one scholarship to maybe at most three spots left, Ohio State has a real chance to not only claim the recruiting national championship with the top class, but more importantly, reload once again as one of the top talented rosters in all of college football. Fortunately, Urban Meyer and company plan on doing just that.

Dobbins 2.0?

It’s no secret that true freshman phenom J.K. Dobbins had a stellar season for Ohio State this past fall. They have high hopes and expectations for Dobbins moving forward. A Texas native, it’s good to have stolen this star from Longhorn and Aggie land. So good, in fact, the Buckeyes may be looking to the same recipe for success in the near future.

Enter IMG Academy’s Noah Cain and you have another native Texan running back that is seriously considering the Buckeyes early in his recruitment. In a story with Landof10, Cain was quoted as saying the school that has solidified its spot with him is Ohio State. In fact, Cain was even quoted as saying Dobbins is like a big brother to him and the staff at Ohio State is the one he currently has the best relationship with.

The nation’s second-ranked running back in the 2019 class and 21st prospect overall is a guy any program would love to have, but fortunately for Ohio State, they have some serious momentum brewing their way. If Cain is looking at the success Dobbins is having being able to come in and make an immediate impact, that has to appeal to him. The Buckeyes will have to fend off Texas and a host of others, but they have to feel good about where things stand right now with full intentions of keeping it that way. Dobbins 2.0 could be in the works.

On to the next one

As stated earlier, the Buckeyes struck gold once again last night when they were able to seal the pledge of defensive end Tyreke Smith. Interestingly enough, it was made public that Smith had in fact already signed with Ohio State during the early signing period but kept it hush so Tyreke could make the announcement at the Under Armour game. While his pledge certainly boosts the class that much more, the staff knows they need to keep plugging along to wrap up the entirety of 2018’s class.

One name that could be becoming more popular with the pledge of Jayson Oweh to Penn State over Ohio State last night is Tyler Friday, another New Jersey native. Friday is actually a defensive tackle by title, but with his 6'3, 260-pound frame, it’s possible that defensive end reps could be something in the works if he were to choose Ohio State. With the position needing added depth with this 2018 recruiting haul, defensive end may actually be the landing spot for Friday. However, nothing with that is set in stone.

One aspect to note though is that the pursuit of Friday may in fact be stronger than ever near the end. It’s also important to note that Michigan has long thought to have been the clear-cut leader for Friday’s services, so if the Buckeyes could swoop in and snatch his pledge out from under the Wolverines, it would of course be that much sweeter. Time will certainly tell, but there are recent reports that Tyler may in fact be leaning towards Ohio State, and that is great news for an already loaded 2018 recruiting class.